Tractor.



H. W..LEAV|TT.

TRACTOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE H. 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- Patented June a, 19 16.

UQOQOQ -Inv'entor,

u .m e W4. ,2 a

witness es H. w. LEAVITT.

TRACTOR. APPLICATION FILED JUNE H, 1912.

Patented June 6, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEETZ.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY W. LEAVITT, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Waterloo, Blackhawk county, Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tractors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in tractors, and more particularly to that species in which the usual traction-wheelsv are replaced by a link-belt traction-device, and my invention therefore relates especially to means adapted to render such a traveling link-belt device yieldable to render it able to readily mount and pass any ordinary irregularities of the surface traversed by it. This object I have accomplished by the mechanism which is hereinafter described and claimed, and which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a right-hand side elevation ofa tractor employing my improved yieldable link-belt traction-device. Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged details of a modified form of said yieldable link-belt traction-device only.

Similar numerals of reference denote corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In the tractor shown in Fig. 1, its rectangular horizontal main frame 19, is supported in front on a pair of pivoted carrying-wheels 40, mounted with their axle 41 pivoted on a medial bolster for horizontal movements as directed by means of steering appliances not here shown. The rear part of said frame is supported on a link-belt 16 having laterally projecting ends, and carried on sprocket-wheels 1 and 2 of which the wheel 1 drives, the wheel 2 being idle. The outer parts of links 17 have projections or cleats 50 and the other plates 49 have cleats 47 to engage the surface moved over. A sub-frame 15 is connected rigidly to the under rear part of the main frame by hangers 18. The axles of the wheels 1 and 2 are seated in bearings 8 and 9 respectively,

on said sub-frame. A middle hanger 7 on Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented June 6, 1916.

Application med June 11, 1912. Seria1No .703,015.

latter'passes obstructions. On the shaft of the sprocket-wheel 1 is secured a small sprocket-wheel 20 which is driven by means of a chain 21 from a sprocket-wheel 22 on intermediate system of gearing from the mounted on said frame 19, such as the gearwheels 26, 27 and 28, or as may be desired,

driving-shaft29 of the engine 30, the latter with arrangements made for? reversing the rotation of the wheel 24 by shifting out a gear 26 and shifting in a gear 25. Since the transmission means is not a part of this invention, I have not presented it specifi cally.

There is a wide space provided between the forward carrying-wheels 40 and the link-belt 16, whereby any suitable implement such as the connected plows-31, 32 and 33 maybe seated therebetween, and connected to the forward part of the main frame by means of any suitable hitch, not herein specifically described. Theseplows, or other implement, may be raised or lowered by means of a link 34 connected between said plows and a bell-crank lever 35 pivoted on a pintle 39 of the frame 10, a link 36 connecting the other arm of said lever to a hand-lever 37, which has a movable spring-- without shock or breakage of the tractor. I

In the device shown in Fig. 1, the outer sprocket-wheels 1 and 2 are rigidly mounted,

but the Wheel 2 has its hanger 11 mounted and connected to the sub-frame 15 to be slidable thereon, the adjustment being effected by means of a tension-screw 13 working in a block 12 on said sub-frame and engaging a projection 14 on thesaid hanger.

certain amount of flexibility is provided for said chain by means of mounting the inner pairs of wheels 3 and 4 in the ends of the rock-body 5, the latter being medially pivoted. When the chain, in traveling forward comes upon a stone or hard clod, the rock-body will shift to rock upwardly its forward part to lift the wheels 4, which per mits the chain to climb over the obstruction, the rock-body then tilting back as the obstacle is passed. Ihe same-action takes place,

but reversed, when the tractor is driven backwardly.. I

In Fig. 2. is shown a modification, wherethe sub-frame 15 itself is made tiltable to give a greater degree of flexibility to the traction-device. This is done by modifying the form of the middle hanger 7 so that itsupper part 45' is hungpivotally on the end of the shaft 23. The forward hariger42 has its upper end provided with an arc-shaped slot 44, adapted to slidably receive a fixed stud 43 projected from the inside face of said. main frame, or some fixed structure thereon, the latter cooperating parts being shown only by dotted lines. At the rear end of the'sub-frame the part 46 acts as a stoppiece to limit the swing of the sub-frame in one direction. By this arrangement, the wheels 1 and 2 may swing'up or down as well as the other wheels 3 and 4, thus ren dering the whole traction-device more flex- I 'ible than that shown in Fig. 1, and adapted claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: y.

In combination, a link-belt having wide ls flattened on theirinWardly-directed faces, a main-frame located above said linkbelt, a sub frame located below said mainframe and having longitudinallyspaced hanger-bearings, one of said bearings being longitudinally adjustable onsaid sub-frame, sprocket-wheels within and meshing with opposite ends of said link-belt and having I v shafts mounted rotatably in said hangerbearings, a sprocket-pinion fixed on oneof said shafts, a driving-shaft rotatably mounted in said inain-frame, a sprocket-wheel fixed on said driving-shaft, a sprocket-chain operatively connecting said sprocket-wheel andsaid sprocket-pinion, a pair of transversely-spaced hangers depending fixedly medially from said sub-frame, a shaft fixed across said hangers, a pair of transverselyspaced downwardly-curved rock-bodies p1.v-'

otally mounted on said fixed shaft, trans verse shafts mounted between the ends of said, spaced rock-bodies, pairs of transversely-spaced fiat-tread, wheels mounted rotatably on said last-mentioned shafts and adapted to bear upon'the flat inner faces of said belt-links immediately thereunder, said sub-frame having a medial upwardly-directed projection pivotally mounted on the said driving-shaft, said sub-frame having on one end an upwardly-directed projection provided with an arc-shaped slot concentric with said driving-shaft, said main-frame having a stud projected into said slot, and the other end of said sub frame having an upwardly-directed projection under and adapted to engage the main-frame to limit the swing of said sub-frame. on said drivingshaft.

Signed at Waterloo, Iowa, this 25th day i of May, 1912. i

v v HARRY W. LEAVITT.

Witnesses:

WM. E. FERGUSON, GEO. G. KENNEDY. 

